patten



- v (No Model.)

I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

v P. J. PATTBN.

ELECTRICAL ANNUNGIATOR CALL SYSTEM.

No. 369,810. r Patented Sept. 13, 1887.

l l' i l l WITNESSES: l/VVE/VTOR M PEIEHS Phamlnlw m hm Wilmin ton Ix c 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model) B. J. PATTEN.

ELECTRICAL ANNUNGIATOR CALL SYSTEM. No. 369.810.

Patented Sept. 13

mmlzllzlmlza IZIE]EIIZI IZ1EI I2] B1 [2'] E @lzwa El [2| s o v I UNITED STATES PATENT rrrcn,

F. JARVIS PATTEN, OF FORT SIDNEY, NEBRASKA.

ELECTRICAL-ANNUNC IATOR CALL SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 369,810, dated September 13, 1887.

' Application filed September 25, 1886. Serial No. 214,574. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, F. JARVIS Pnrrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Sidney, in the county of Cheyenne, State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Form of Electric-Annunciator Gall Systems, of which the following is a' specification.

Figure 1 is a diagram of the combinationcircuit system,showing how the required number of calls are obtained by making and breaking at different points the different possible combinations of a given number of circuits, four being taken as an illustration, giving by their use fifteen different calls. Fig. 2 shows the connections and operation of one of the combination circuit keys used in the system. Fig. 3 is an end view of the annunciator, showing a single magnet with its drop, as well as the necessary connections inside the annnnciatonbox. Fig. 4 shows in diagram the face or dial of an annunciator having three (3) combination-circuit systems of four drops each and designed for thirty calls, or forty-five, at pleasure. Fig. 5 shows plan and general arrangement of a combination push-button for use as a wants-call, in which one button indicates the number of the room or distant point making the call and the other push-buttons signify different wants or articles required at that room or point. Fig. 6 showsa different arrangement of the same device. Fig. 7 shows the application of such a wantscall system to an annunciator of the ordinary form for eighteen rooms, the lower row of four additional drops giving, by use of the system to be described, fifteen dif' ferent calls for articles required at the rooms. The invention consists in using a new principle in the construction of call systems, by which a given number of signals may be obtained from a similar number ofdistant points with a comparatively smaller number of magnets, indicators or drops, and wire circuits than are commonly used in the ordinaryforms of electric annunciators. The principle applied consists in the combination of a given number of elements, the elements combined being the indicators or drops in the annunciator, as well as their corresponding wire circuits, and the key by which a number of circuits are opened and closed is designated as a or more of the annunciator-drops falling simultaneously and actuated by a single key or push, the number formed by the figures on the drops giving the required signal. The system will be illustrated by explanation in detail of a particular case.

Referring to Fig. 1, the four light parallel lines represent four parallel contiguous circuits, (numbered, respectively, 1, 2, 3, and 4,) each circuit controlling its own separate magnet and indicator or drop. All four circuitwires go together from the annunciator-box successively through all the points from which indications are required and all together return to the annunciator, thus completing a closed combination circuit system. The following analysis of the system shows how the principle involved finds its application:

Viewed simply as elements, the figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are susceptible when taken in combinations-first each alone, then two and two,

then three and three, and, lastly, a single 1 combination of four figures-ofjust fifteen different combinations, no two of which shall contain the same figures. The four figures make fifteen different numbers, as follows:

Total 15 These are all the possible combinations that can be made with the four figures. It is evident that fifteen different points or rooms may be designated by these fifteen numbers; but in the same way four distinct wire circuits may be combined as distinct elements, each controlling a separate drop or indicator, and so give fifteen differentsignals with four drops and four circuits only. This is accomplished in the following manner: The points or rooms are numbered, as above described, 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, &c., the four circuit-wires similarly numbered 20 w 7.0 w,Fig. 1, leaving the lead a a go through all the fifteen different points,whose push-buttons are indicated by the small squares on the circuits in Fig. 1. Starting from the left, the first point or room is designated 1234.. Now the four circuits are normally all closed and the four magnets m m mim all retain their drops by holding up their armatures; but the push-button at the point designated 1234 is so arranged that when pressed it opens simultaneously all four circuits, and all the four drops instantly fall, displaying the figures 1 2 3 4 as a single number. At the next point the push-button is arranged to break only three of the circuits, leaving, say, the last, or circuit w,unbroken, and the readingthis push-button transmits is, therefore,l23, all drops falling except the drop numbered 4.. At the next point the circuit w 'is omitted from the key, and at the next 4 the circuit W, and then thus giving all possible combinations of three circuits. Then the circuits are left out in pairs,of which,as we have seen,there are six possible combinations, as shown by the analysis above. They are then left out in sets of three at a time, which leaves the single figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 only, thus completing the fifteen different combinations of thecircuits. The particular method of arranging the key or circuit breaker to produce these results is shown in Fig. 2, in which three of the wire circuits-via, w w w -enter the button and are attached to separate conducting-strips a a a, fixed to a piece of wood hinged at h h. The connectors rest upon and complete the circuit through other strips, 1) b b, from which the circuits are continued. The circuit-wire 10 goes round this push-button and is unaffected by it, so that when this button is pressed and the contacts between the strips a a a and b b b are broken the drops 1, 2, and 3 fall simultaneously. In case no two calls were ever sent at the same time nothing further would be required to complete the system, except some mechanism for resetting the drops after a signal had been received. Such a system has a variety of applications. Fora house-call, however, or for a wants-call, to be described later, the system requires some device to prevent the possibility of confusion resulting from two or more signals being sent at the same instant. For this purpose a simple arrangement of shunt-circuits is used, which is shown in the diagram Fig. 1.

P P is a rod upon which the different drops are hinged, as shown, and about which they turn when released.

B S is a rock-shaft placed at a suitable distance below P P, so that any drop on falling will be caught by and rest upon R S after it has fallen just far enough to display the figtem return each to its own magnet-coil,whose terminals 1/0 0 v, leaving the magnets, are all connected to the small rod :0 x, a conductor connected to the opposite pole of the battery B by the lead 8 0. From the other lead at the point a a shunt-circuit wire, Z Z, goes through the gong G and is attached to the rod P P. Another wire, Z Z, has one extremity attached to the rod R S, and connects with all the four circuit-wires w 10 w w at points z e 2 2*, just above where these main-circuit wires enter their respective magnets. This shunt-circuit system prevents any possible confusion of simultaneous indications. It will be observed that so long as the rods P P and R S are sepathe gong G to P P, thence through the fallen drop to B S, and thence through the wire Z Z to all the magnet-coils, and through their terminals back to the battery through as x and s 0. Therefore, as long as any single drop is down, displaying its indicator, the gong G will continue ringing, and will not cease-to ring and signal the call until the fallen drop is restored to its place. This is effected by pulling the cord K, which rotates the rockshaft R S and resets the drop againstits magnet, where it is held. The continuous ringing of the gong insures attention to the call and prevents delay in resetting the drop. It will be further observed that as long as any single drop is down (completing the short circuit) all the magnets are thereby thrown into a short circuit in multiple arc, and no other drop can be made to fall bypressing a distant push so long as one is down, thus preventing a confusion of indications.

Fig. 3 shows an end view of the annunciator, in which one magnet is seen with thedifferent connections as well as the relative positions of the rods described. The magnet M, Fig. 3, is fixed at its upper extremity. Its armature a is fixed to the bent lever-arm of the drop D On being released the drop falls to the dotted position shown. It is evident that any number of circuits may be combined in the manner described.

Owing to the frequent necessity of transmitting a number of simultaneous calls, it will be found preferable to use several different sets of four or five wire circuits for a large number of indications, each set controlling aseparate and independent row of drops. This method of applying the system is shown in Fig. 4, which is a diagram of the dial or face of an annunciator arranged for either thirty or forty-five calls, divided into three sets of ten or fifteen each, each set being indicated, as before, by a row of four drops. There may evidently be as many absolutely simultaneous calls as there are rows of independent drops and sets of circuits.

IIO

In Fig. 7 is shown a diagram of an electric-annunciator dial of the usual pattern for eighteen rooms, but having an additional row of four drops arranged on the four-wire combinationcircuit system described, the combination system being used in this case as a wants-call,by which any number of wants up to fifteen may be signaled from any single room by means of a combination push button placed in each room and operating, say, ten of the different combination-circuit keys shown in Fig. 1, different significations or numbers indicating different wants or articles required at the room. The different keys for this purpose may be actuated by different push-buttons, but all forming together a multiple push-button like that shown in Fig. 5, in which the central button transmits the room-call in the usual way and the ten push-buttons surrounding it signify each a different articlewanted. The meaning of each number may be printed on a card near the button, or the name of the article itself may be stamped on the push-button. In

Fig. 6 is shown a different arrangement of the same device. Fig. 4 is a diagram of thefront of an annunciator designed for either thirty or forty-five rooms. It has three rows of drops, as shown, which operate three separate and independent sets of combination-circuits. For convenience, the second and the third rows from the top are designated a and b, respectively, and the rooms may be similarly dividedinto three sets, so that those in the first set and actuating the first row of drops would be rooms 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, &c. These would constitute the first set, or, say, the rooms on the first fioor. Those this manner the thirty or forty-five rooms may be designated and transmit their calls with twelve drops only.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. A combination electric-.annunciator call system having a number of contiguous parallel electric circuits operated by means of a number of combinationcircuit keys, corresponding to the different possible combinations, no two alike, of the given number of circuits, each key connected through said circuits to a corresponding combination of annunciator-drops.

2. In an electric annunciator, the combination of two or more independent combinationcircuitsystems, each separate wire system connected to a separate set or row of drops in the annunciator.

3. In an electric annunciator, the combination' of a number of different sets or rows of drops with lettered drops or indicators, one for each such set or row.

4. A multiple push-button or circuit-controller consisting of anumber of distinct pushbuttons, each operatinga separate combinationcircuit key, all arranged in a number of contiguous parallel circuits, and connected thereby to a like number (if annunciator-drops.

5. In a combination electric annunciator, the connections described of an incomplete or open short circuit, which includes all the magnetcoils of the combination-circuit system in multiple arc between its terminals, said connections being so placed with respect to each other that a fallen drop, by connecting the rod about which it turns with that upon which it falls, throws all the magnets of the combination system into said short circuit.

F. JARVIS PATTEN.

Witnesses:

M. OoHN, P. SIMRAY. 

